


Crush

by syrupwit



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9622727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syrupwit/pseuds/syrupwit
Summary: An unexpected confession in an even less expected place.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Babie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babie/gifts).



"You had a _crush_ on me?" Mike was incredulous. The atmosphere in the men's bathroom of the Deck 4 Piano Bar had been declining towards the awkward, as zippers were done up and various personal effects adjusted, but now the energy that had gotten them there in the first place seemed to be returning.

"Uh, yeah." A less practiced observer might have identified the expression that flitted across Ryan's face as annoyance or disgust, rather than surprise followed by shame. Mike had put in a lot of practice observing people in the past fourteen years. "Wasn't it obvious?"

"You broke into my locker, stole my textbooks, and replaced my gym clothes with a Santa suit."

"Really? I thought it was an elf suit."

"It was a Santa suit." Ryan had come up to Mike and asked to sit on his lap, in front of the girl Mike had had a crush on at the time. In retrospect, Ryan's revelation kind of made sense. "I'm 100% sure."

"Look, I'm not saying I was great at dealing with my feelings back then --"

"And you're clearly so much better at it now?" 

"Well, yeah. I kind of am." Again that look of shame, then determination. "Like, for example... Mike, I like you. I think you're, like, hot --"

"Oh my god," said Mike, covering his face. He was a grown man; Ryan should have lost all power to embarrass him. Yet, somehow, there he was.

"Shut up, I'm showing vulnerability here!" Ryan pressed on. "I think we should date. Like, if you want to."

Mike considered for a moment.

"Okay," he said, ignoring the kick his heart gave at Ryan's smile, and hoped that Ryan would never discover the real reason he'd come on this cruise. Being a secret agent tended to put a cramp in one's love life.


End file.
